1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cabinets for treating food items and, more particularly, to a cabinet with a food storage space in which both temperature and humidity can be selectively controlled.
2. Background Art
It is the principal objective of restaurateurs and fast food operators to provide to their customers food items that have a fresh-cooked taste. In high volume establishments cooking on a per order basis is impossible. Instead, food items are generally precooked and placed in a heated food treatment cabinet.
Designers of food treatment cabinets strive to maintain, as long as possible, the temperature, appearance, taste, texture, and aroma of precooked food items. This objective often competes with the need to eliminate foodborne bacteria. If the cooking space in the cabinet is maintained at temperatures in excess of 140.degree. F., most of the bacteria is killed, however, at these elevated temperatures the foods may be further cooked, which is undesirable, and/or may dry out. The result is that generally restaurateurs and fast food operators permit only a very limited storage time for precooked items, after which the items are disposed of. Profits in such operations are thus increased by lengthening permissible storage time for food in the treatment cabinet.
One attempt to preserve the just-cooked taste of foods has been to humidify the food storage space within the cabinet. Generally, a pan of water is provided in the bottom of the food storage space and heated above the boiling point of the water so that there is a progressive buildup of humidity within the storage space. While the infusion of steam in food treatment cabinets has resulted in a considerable improvement over dry cabinets, the uncontrolled humidity tends to continuously cook the food items, and may also cause saturation of the food items with water so that they are not of the same quality as they were upon being introduced to the cabinet.